To Divide or Not to Divide?
Now THAT is great question! And no, I'm not talking about anything but plants... Lol!
When you get a ground cover - aka a "miniature garden bedding plant" - how do you know if you can divide it right away?
Look at the crown of the plant. The crown is the base of the plant where the stems come out of the soil. Note that this is a generality but can be applied to most plants.
- If there is only one crown - the plant can't be divided right away but will eventually spread and propagate via runners below ground, shoots above ground, or reseed.
- If there are multiple points of growth at the base of the plant-lets - or many stems going down into the soil all throughout the pot - the plant can be divided right away.
How to Divide:
After deciding wether you can divide your ground cover: Treat it like a delicate cake and, using a big knife, slice it into the roots to cut the root ball into smaller pieces. Dig the hole in the garden bed a little bigger than the slice, then fill-in with potting soil and make sure there is soil-contact on all 4 sides of the “slice.” You might have to layer-in
a little more soil on the top once you water it in.
Another analogy is treating the plant like a dinner roll and gently pull it apart without crushing it. With this method, you'll have to follow where the plant roots want to separate. If some roots are more stubborn and won't pull-apart, snip them with scissors. But make sure each division gets a decent amount of roots.
For four-inch potted plants, I would advise divisions no less than ¼ of the original plant. The smaller you divide the plants, the more care and attention they'll need to grow-in. So don't think that you'll be getting more plants if you divide it into smaller chunks because the tiny divisions probably won't make it in a regular garden
environment.
When to Divide:
For established miniature gardens, your mini garden bedding plants will need some dividing every couple of years to stay fresh and prevent them from running all over the rest of the garden.
Dividing is usually done in early spring in the full-sized garden but, as with everything is this ultra-flexible hobby - you can divide your miniature garden plants at any time of year - the hotter months may take more care than any other month.
If the plant is flowering, you will probably lose the flowers while the plant adjusts. Plants can't do two things at once so snip off the flowers for the best results - you'll get more flowers later.
Use the ground cover mantra to know when to divide - AND don't wait either. If it's been three years, divide the plant because by summer, you'll be kicking yourself that you didn't do it sooner!
" The first year they sleep,
The second year they creep,
The third year they leap. "
After dividing, the plant will need to recover with TLC and away from direct sun. To know it's roots have recovered, watch for any new growth or budding - then you'll know you've got a happy division. (Again, they can't do two things at once, right?)
Got a question about one of our Two Green Thumbs' plants? Hit reply and ask away!
